Inspection Detail

Inspection: 111793642 - Peninsula Crane & Rigging

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on April 18, 1991, Employee #1 and four coworkers were using an extending-boom crane to raise a piece of machinery from the ground to a second floor wall opening at the United Airlines maintenance facility at the San Francisco Airport. The piece of 9,000 lb machinery was lifted on a platform of wood and steel sections, suspended from the crane hook by four synthetic web slings. The machinery was not secured to either the platform or the crane hook, but was restrained only by a wedge under one end, where the machine rested on a multi-ton tracked roller. The crane operator positioned the platform at the second floor, so that its front edge overlapped and rested on the floor. A synthetic web sling was attached to the machine and to the mast of a forklift truck, which was also on the second floor. The forklift operator intended to pull the machine off the platform and onto the floor by backing up the forklift. A coworker was placing a tracked roller under the front edge of the machine to facilitate its movement. There were no guides or restraints in place by which the machine could be controlled once it started moving. Employee #1, the crew foreman, was kneeling at the edge of the wall opening, directing the crane operator with hand signals. When the machine was part-way off the platform of the front multi-ton unit on the floor of the building, the platform suddenly shot rapidly away from the building, leaving the machine teetering on the edge of the opening. It then fell to the ground and dragged the attached forklift truck out through the opening at high speed. The forklift knocked Employee #1 from the unprotected edge of the floor. He fell approximately 24 1/2 ft to the ground, and was killed.

Keywords: PLATFORM, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, STRUCK BY, LOST CONTROL, UNGUARDED, UNSTABLE LOAD